Can I Post My Clips to My Website?

August 15, 2007

Can I Post My Clips to My Website?
printable version

Hi Angela,

Kinda new at freelance. I have sold a few articles, and now wish to build a web page, rather than e-mail clips with queries. Once an article is sold to a publication, can the author of the article post a clip of the article on the author's web page? Is the entire article necessary? Do you think a web page for editors to visit is a good idea?

Any advice you can give would be appreciated.

Sincerely,
Jerry

Yes, I think it's important for all writers to have their own webpage for marketing purposes and as a place where editors can easily review your clips.

If you're going to scan the entire article, as it appears in the publication, you need to obtain permission from the actual publication because not doing so would be a violation of their copyright.

If you want to just post an excerpt from the article, along with an note saying when and where it was published, that is just fine. If you want to post just the text of the article, but all of the text, you need to ensure the publication that purchased it does not own the electronic rights to your article, and, if they purchased first rights, that you're not publishing it before they do.